Biography

Ana began her musical studies as a young child in her hometown of Huesca, Spain. There she had her first exposure to choral singing and piano, focusing on music of the Spanish renaissance and the classic works of Händel, Bach, Mozart, Purcell, Schütz and Buxtehude.

These first years of musical education determined the course of her later career. After graduating with honors from the Conservatorio del Liceo in Barcelona, Ana continued her studies with Dominique Vellard and Richard Levitt at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland.

Ana’s studies with Vellard kindled her interest in the music of oral traditions. Together, they have been researching the Spanish repertoire. Ana is drawn to this type of music because of its richness and the keys that it offers for the interpretation of certain early music repertoires. The ensemble Vox Suavis, in which she has been performing until 2016 with Dominique Vellard and Baptiste Romain, is dedicated to this music.

In 2016 Ana founded a new ensemble with three other early music singers: Paloma Gutiérrez del Arroyo, June Telletxea and Anne Marie Lablaude. Named Cantaderas the group interprets traditional women’s’ vocal repertoire and accompanies themselves themselves on hand percussion ranging from frame drums to tables and chairs.

Her recordings include Il primo libro de Francesca Caccini,(which was supported by Swiss National Radio) and La voz del olvido, recorded with Vox suavis on the French label Aparte. In this CD the 7 Cantigas de Amigo are framed by pieces from Spanish oral traditions.

Ana Arnaz performs regularly in European festivals in Belgium, France (Festival de Musique Sacrée de Perpignan, Festival international du Thoronet), Holland (AMUZ), Germany (Uckermärkischen Musikwochen), Spain (Fundación Juan March, Festival Internacional del Camino de Santiago) and Switzerland with ensembles such as La Cecchina, Vox Suavis and Gilles Binchois. She has also performed with Ex Luce and other groups in the USA. She has given concerts of Spanish renaissance and baroque music at festivals such as the Houston Early Music Festival and the St. Gaudens Festival. She sings regularly in Switzerland with the Orchestra Crescendo performing later repertoire from Mendelssohn, Gounod, Fauré and Spohr.